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If you ever wanted to see Jon Snow jamming to the Troggs, “Game of Thrones: The Musical” will not disappoint. Members of the sprawling “Game of Thrones” cast showed off their vocal chops in a comedic collaboration with the band Coldplay. The Chris Martin/George R. R. Martin mash-up sketch was part of the inaugural U.S. version of the U.K.’s live fundraising telethon Red Nose Day. The video (watch it above), kicks off with an abbreviated version of the fantasy show’s elaborate title music before offering Coldplay frontman Chris Martin’s lyrics for the theme song. “There are Starks and there are Lannisters and Kardashians –” “Targaryens,” drummer Will Champion corrects. The sketch also features Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister on “Thrones”) crooning “Man for All Seasons,” a song about his character’s relative longevity; Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister) channeling his inner Bryan Adams as he sings a piano-driven ballad dedicated to his […]

This post contains “Game of Thrones” spoilers. Poor Sansa Stark can’t catch a break. And fans are taking to social media to express their outrage following the latest atrocity inflicted on Sansa in last night’s episode of “Game of Thrones.” Sansa, portrayed by 19-year-old Sophie Turner, has survived horror after horror in the hit HBO fantasy series. From losing her direwolf Lady, to witnessing the beheading of her father Ned Stark, to suffering the brutality and humiliation inflicted by Joffrey Lannister, to being attacked by a riotous mob, Sansa’s lot only seems to worsen over time. And after fearing sexual assault by Joffrey, by the Hound, by the mob, by Tyrion and potentially even by Littlefinger, Sansa is raped on her wedding night by her new husband, the psychotic Ramsay Bolton, as a tearful Theon Greyjoy, a.k.a. Reek, is made […]

In its fifth season, “Game of Thrones” has shown that Westeros is not a kind place for kindhearted people. In this hostile environment, Brienne of Tarth journeys on, her sole focus to fulfill the oath she swore to Catelyn Stark to safely return the Stark girls to Winterfell. Portrayed by actress Gwendoline Christie in HBO’s epic fantasy series, Brienne was first introduced in Season 2, winning her place among Renly Baratheon’s personal guard despite her gender. Since then Brienne has spent much of her time traveling through the Seven Kingdoms after swearing fealty to Lady Stark following Renly’s murder. Lady Stark tasks Brienne with escorting the captive Jaime Lannister back to King’s Landing in exchange for the safe return of Sansa and Arya Stark, and it is this promise that Brienne is struggling to fulfill with Arya and Sansa rejecting her […]

The fifth season of “Game of Thrones” kicked off Sunday night with a flashback, angry dragons and a grisly death. The premiere episode, titled “The Wars to Come” and co-written by series creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, offered something of a slow burn, gradually reintroducing fans to the sprawling cast of HBO’s lavish fantasy drama, which is based on George R. R. Martin’s bestselling “A Song of Ice and Fire” book series. Hero Complex examines some of the most intriguing moments in the premiere. If you haven’t seen the episode, read no further; instead, catch up on where we left off in the gallery above. Cersei’s creepy flashback foreshadows more deaths The season began with a flashback to young Cersei Lannister (Nell Williams), some 25 years prior to the events of the show. Cersei and […]

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Hero Complex’s new Paycheck Friday series. Every other Friday, Hero Complex will guide you through the vast world of toys, books, games and other geek merchandise and share some of our favorites. With “Game of Thrones” returning for its fifth season on Sunday, it’s only fitting that this week’s paycheck goes to fund a viewing party for the season premiere. Hopefully, these items will help guests get into the proper mood without taking an unpleasant turn the way celebrations often take in the series. First up, we have “A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook.” What’s a Westerosi party without food? Anybody familiar with George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series knows that Martin’s novels are filled with highly detailed, almost opulent descriptions of the extravagant feasts indulged […]

Any way you slice it, Cersei Lannister has had a rough year. Last season on HBO’s epic fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” the cunning Queen Regent of the Seven Kingdoms watched her sadistic son and the apple of her eye, King Joffrey, die at his own wedding. His murder created new strain in her, shall we say, complicated incestuous relationship with twin brother Jaime, as did her politically motivated engagement to Loras Tyrell, who happens to be gay. To top it all off, her father, Tywin, was murdered — while on the toilet, no less — by her younger brother, Tyrion. With her mild-mannered youngest son Tommen now installed as king, Cersei is now more powerful than ever. Actress Lena Headey has turned Cersei, a character who in lesser hands might be a campy villainess, into a surprisingly sympathetic figure […]

On Sunday, “Game of Thrones” fans will gather in front of their televisions to “do-do-DO-do” along with the show’s opening theme and return to the lands of Westeros and Essos for the fifth season. It’s been several months since Season 4 ended last summer — can they really do only 10 episodes a year? — and with so many tangled story lines to sort out, the brief assortment of “Previously on” clips may not be enough to do the trick. And understanding what happened previously will be more essential than ever this season, as series executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have promised that several of the show’s disparate threads, spread across continents, will finally start to come together. With Tyrion Lannister last seen leaving King’s Landing in a ship bound for Essos, can a meeting with Daenerys Targaryen be […]

The new season of “Game of Thrones” already had its British premiere at the Tower of London and will have its North American premiere starting at 6 p.m. Pacific time on Monday at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco. You can watch coverage from the red carpet below. For the rest of us, the show doesn’t return on HBO until April 12. To those jonesing for some more dragon action, that can seem like a lifetime away — especially in terms of brutally short Westerosi lives. But just because you can’t see the new season early, doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to prepare. If past seasons have taught us anything, it’s that the narrative of this HBO series is so densely packed and richly layered that any amount of additional information will allow the story to pass […]

“Game of Thrones” fans won’t be able to attend the show’s fifth season premiere event in San Francisco — they can’t even go to Westeros — but they can do the next best thing and watch the event on their computers. Or in an open flame, if they’re a priest or priestess of R’hllor. Pretty sure prophetic flames also get Facebook. The event will be held March 23 at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco and will be live-streamed on Facebook at facebook.com/GameofThrones at 6 p.m. Pacific. Fans will also be able to ask questions of the stars, including Alfie Allen, Ian Beattie, Dean-Charles Chapman, Gwendoline Christie, Emilia Clarke, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Liam Cunningham, Peter Dinklage, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jerome Flynn, Aidan Gillen, Conleth Hill, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Michiel Huisman, Michael McElhatton, Hannah Murray, Iwan Rheon, Sophie Turner, Carice van Houten […]

The new key art for the “Game of Thrones” fifth season has arrived to help promote the upcoming fifth season of HBO’s epic fantasy. Set to premiere April 12, the new season of the wildly popular series adapted from the work of author George R.R. Martin will introduce a large roster of new characters as it continues to follow the mixed fortunes of the key houses of Westeros. The provocative image shows the looming figure of a dragon in the mist looking down over Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) aboard a ship. A recent trailer for the season showcased an interesting conversation between Tyrion and Varys (Conleth Hill), suggesting that the disgraced dwarf might help the Seven Kingdoms install the right monarch on the Iron Throne. “The Seven Kingdoms needs a ruler loved by millions with a powerful army and the […]